Marco MARSILI

Freedom fighter, human rights advocate and rule of law supporter

Graduated in Political Science and International Relations and in Institutional communication, both cum laude, Dr Marsili was granted a PhD and a European PhD in History, Security Studies and Defence from the ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon with a dissertation on the impact of ambiguous and disputed definitions of terrorism and counter-terrorism on fundamental human rights. He is aspected to defend ASAP his second PhD in Political Science and International Relations: Security and Defense form the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal with a thesis title on hybrid conflict and the impact on humanitarian law. Dr Marsili has also three advanced post-graduate diploma degrees: History, Security Studies and Defence from ISCTE; Political Science and International Relations: Security and Defense from Catholic University of Portugal; Armed Conflicts and Human Rights from the Law Faculty of the University of Coimbra and the Military University Institute of Portugal. He held research positions in major civil and military institutions in Portugal, UK and Italy, where he conducts his research in the broad area of international relations, security and defence, with a specific focus on international law, international humanitarian law, fundamental human rights, terrorism, counter-terrorism, hybrid warfare and unconventional conflicts. Currently, he is conducting at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of Cà Foscari University a research project titled 'Lawful Emerging and Disruptive Technologies and Warfare. Consistency with International Law and further Considerations and Implications' (LEDI), a project 4 Peace+Justice funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and University under the call 'Young Researchers-Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Seal of Excellence' 2022. Dr Marsili is also a member of the Research Institute for International Studies of Cà Foscari University.

Dr Marsili is a member of the editorial board of Media i Społeczeństwo (Media and Society), an open access peer reviewed journal published by the University of Bielsko-Biala, Poland (ISSN: 2083-5701, eISSN: 2545-2568), and the International Journal of Robotics and Automation Technology (abbreviated: Int. J. Robot. Autom. Technol.), a peer-reviewed open access journal  published by Zealpress (ISSN: 2409-9694). Heserves also as associate editor at The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development, a peer-reviewed open access journal published by CESRAN International (print ISSN 2632-4911; online ISSN 2041-1944).

He was the principal investigator of international research projects and member of NATO Technical Teams (ETs - Exploratory Teams and RTGs - Research Task Groups) on Human Security, Information, and Cognitive Warfare in Cyberspace established by the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO). He has a NATO and EU security clearance (currently suspended). Dr Marsili was engaged as cyber defence and cyber security expert in two studies commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and in a cyber defence platform (PANDORA project) financed by the European Commission within the first European Defence Industrial Development Programme. In 2023 he conducted research commissioned by the Defense Research and Analysis Institute – Istituto di Ricerca e Analisi della Difesa (IRAD)/Centre for Defense Higher Studies – Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa (CASD) on the evolution of special forces in Multi Domain Operations (MDO) in cyber and space environment and in the metaverse, and in the same year he served as technical evaluator – position equivalent to G17 NATO Officer – within NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) 2023 pilot Challenge Programme. In 2024 he was selected as international expert by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (SRDA), the the research and development grant agency in the Slovak Republic established in 2005 as a successor of the previous agency functioning since 2001 and funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports, and as ethics expert for the performance of the Ethics Appraisal for the Horizon Europe funded research programme. In 2024 he joined the Working Group of Experts III of the Kosciuszko Institute on Dual-use technology for the Road to Polish Presidency – CYBERSEC 2025. Dr Marsili is the recipient of international grants, fellowships, prizes and awards, among which stand up the Seal of Excellence of the European Commission in 2021 and the European Research and Mobility Grant for European Studies/Charles V European Award by the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation in 2020. In 2023 and 2024 he was Judge at The Global Undergraduate Awards (UA), Politics and International Relations panel. He chairs and participates many international conferences and workshops and is member of scientific and organizing committees. Dr Marsili held corporate positions, including in the media and communication sector - a long-time journalist, he worked as editor-in-chief - and served as public official and election observer for the OSCE/ODIHR. In 2012 and 2024 he was candidate to the Board of Directors of RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana, the Italian national public broadcasting company.

He is an outstanding member of the International Society of Military Sciences (ISMS), where he co-chairs Working Group 1 (WG1) on War Studies, of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), where he is full member of the Research Committee 26 (RC26) on Human Rights and of the Research Committee 48 (RC48) on Administrative Culture, of the IPSA affiliated Portuguese Political Science Association (APCP), of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), and of the European Sociological Association (ESA). More info in https://www.marcomarsili.it/en/home-marsili-english/. Dr Marsili is the Academic coordinator for the teaching staff mobility in the framework of the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility to non-European Countries (ICM Extra-Europe) between Cà Foscari and the University of Cabo Verde (UNICV) and the Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Turkey. More info in https://www.marcomarsili.it/en/home-marsili-english/.